ANALYSIS

This week, our nation has again witnessed tragedies on live television. A political activist was murdered while speaking in front of a college crowd while his family watched. A state away, another school shooting took place. Hundreds more—adults and children alike—now bear the scars of fearing for their lives as they witnessed the violence and heard gunshots ring out. As the news spreads, it delivers another emotional blow to a nation already wrestling with troubled times. Along with many others, I found myself asking, "How did we get here?"

Our reactions to this set of events–anger, anxiety, frustration, helplessness–are natural human responses to shock and grief. We instinctively seek answers to make sense of senseless tragedies, often searching for someone to blame. Yet, this search for culpability does not ultimately satisfy. Only God can bring us true peace and empower us to bring peace to others. Engaging with God's Word helps us understand this peace more deeply.

Engaging with God's Word enables us to reflect Christ to the world. As Luke 6:45 states, "A good person brings good out of the treasure of good things in his heart...For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of" (GNT). We cannot expect godly words and deeds to flow outwardly if we have not first embedded them within. 

At American Bible Society, we believe God uses Scripture to powerfully transform our hearts, enabling us to put into practice what we preach. Research shows that as people engage with Scripture, they experience higher levels hope than their neighbors: God's Word affects an inward transformation that changes our external response to hardship. 

Not only do we see this inward transformation in those who are engaged in the Word of God, but we've also seen that Americans of every Christian tradition who deeply engage with the Bible are more forgiving and service-oriented than their less-biblically-engaged neighbors. Americans who consistently interact with the Bible are 30% more likely than average to express an ability to forgive others when they have been wronged. Even those who read the Bible as little as 2-3 times per year are 14% more forgiving than those who are disengaged. As Bible engagement deepens, forgiveness grows with it.    

Forgiveness does not require shared politics, similar religious traditions or common cultural backgrounds, and it occurs with or without reconciliation. Forgiveness commits us to helping rather than hurting, to praying and acting for reconciliation rather than vilifying.   

Engaging with Scripture helps us to better understand forgiveness and, in turn, extend it to others. As Christ loved us through His work on the cross, we are called to love others. This love begets forgiveness, and this love comes through an understanding of Scripture.

Believers have a responsibility to bring our experience of reconciliation with God to others so that they, too, can experience peace and friendship with God. 2 Corinthians 5:18 expresses, "All this is done by God, who through Christ changed us from enemies into his friends and gave us the task of making others his friends also" (GNT). Christ has done the work of reconciliation. Now, we must act as God's messengers to share this good news so that others can know that reconciliation for themselves.

We learn how to go about this work by following the example of the apostles who came before us as we engage with their story through Scripture. They, too, carried the message of Christ in turbulent times. We must dwell in Scripture's pages so that we can extend the good news of grace given through Christ. Then, we will be prepared to point our hurting neighbors to the peace freely available to them.

The world is closely watching those who profess the name of Jesus Christ. Through our meditation on and knowledge of God's Word, we must uphold His name for all to see and be drawn to His light.

Dr. Jennifer Holloran serves as president and CEO of the American Bible Society